Reports say Duke and Duchess of Sussex intend to relocate from US, with children to start British school in September
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in Britain, six years after leaving for the US, it has been reported.
The couple and their two children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are expected to relocate later this month to a non-royal residence.
Continue reading...Aalim Ahmed, five, fell from 15th-floor window at tower block family had asked to be moved out of, court hears
An inquest into the death of a five-year-old boy who fell from a 15th-floor window has heard that more measures could have been taken to make it safer.
Aalim Ahmed, who was autistic, died when he fell from a kitchen window at a residential block in Plaistow, east London. His father, Makail Ahmed, rushed from the top floor temporary social housing flat and discovered his body shortly before 6am on 16 May 2024.
Continue reading...PM wants to reduce department’s stranglehold on public purse and bring long-term thinking to economic policy
Andy Burnham is far from the first prime minister to dream of taming the power of the mighty Treasury.
Boris Johnson all but forced the resignation of Sajid Javid by handpicking his team; Margaret Thatcher favoured her economic adviser Alan Walters over Nigel Lawson, prompting the latter’s furious resignation; and Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s power struggle was the stuff of Whitehall legend.
Continue reading...Owner of firm behind ‘Temu Range Rover’ will open facility in Bedfordshire in autumn
The Chinese carmaker behind the irreverently nicknamed “Temu Range Rover” is plotting further UK expansion with a major research and development centre in England.
Chery, which makes the Jaecoo and Omoda car brands, said the launch of a new R&D site was “the next step in our long-term plan” for Britain as it also moves towards manufacturing its cars in the UK.
Continue reading...PM promises to mount ‘Covid-style campaign’ to get homeless people off streets in winter
New Scottish government policy on datacentres marks a “real departure”, the minister in charge has said.
Changes announced earlier this week mean the government has to be notified about applications to build datacentres above a 50 megawatt capacity, PA reported.
Roughly half the savings come from having to build much less grid, fewer pylons and less cables carving up the countryside. The rest of the savings come from lower wholesale prices, lower balancing costs and subsidies.
Basically, we’d pay a lot less money to switch wind farms off when it’s too windy, or for back up when it’s not windy enough.
Continue reading...Greens say analysis shows government failure to take bold climate action could lead to big gains for party at election
Labour could lose dozens of seats to the Green party if the government allows new drilling in the North Sea, according to internal research shared with the Guardian.
Green party analysis suggests up to 50 Labour MPs, including Andy Burnham’s key ally Louise Haigh, could lose their seats at the next election if the government fails to make urgent climate action a priority or allows new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.
The Guardian’s climate forum 2026: On Tuesday 20 October, join Damian Carrington and our panel of experts, including Prof Andy Haines, Katie White, Asad Rehman, Shruti Suresh, Gareth Thomas and Amy Fairman, for a hopeful and solutions-focused evening. Book tickets here or at guardian.live
Continue reading...PM’s plan to shield households from more pressure risks being overwhelmed by wider price rises
July’s increase in inflation, to 2.9%, is likely to be the first of several, underlining the challenge facing Andy Burnham in shielding consumers from a fresh cost of living squeeze this autumn.
Rising energy bills, as an increase in Ofgem’s quarterly price cap came into force, were the main driver of the jump in inflation, from 2.6% in June. That was partly offset by cheaper fuel prices – the knock-on effect of hostilities easing in the Middle East, after Donald Trump hailed his “memorandum of understanding” with Iran in June.
Continue reading...Food Foundation sounds alarm over supply risks and price shocks as about 40% of Britain’s food is imported
The UK is vulnerable to food price shocks because of its dependence on imports of fruit and vegetable from countries even more exposed to the climate crisis, researchers say.
Much of Britain has sweltered under a record five heatwaves this year and endured drought and wildfires, with the hot, dry conditions damaging crops and reducing yields of domestic produce.
Continue reading...Bonnier Books will no longer publish UK’s top-selling true crime author following Guardian investigation
The main publisher of the bestselling true crime writer Christopher Berry-Dee has dropped the author after a Guardian investigation into allegations of violence and sexual abuse against him, which he denies. Waterstones has also removed his books from sale.
“We are shocked and appalled by the very serious allegations relating to Christopher Berry-Dee, and our thoughts are with those affected,” said the publisher Bonnier Books in a statement to the Guardian.
Continue reading...‘First meaningful rain for a long time’ is forecast but water firms continue to ask customers to restrict use
Floods and drought could hit the UK at the same time this week, with heavy rain forecast to fall on hard, parched soil.
While some parts of the UK will have the “first meaningful rain for a long time” in the coming days, it will not reverse widespread drought conditions that have put pressure on wildlife, farmers, firefighters and water resources.
Continue reading...Marie Ebert, Alexander Cromie and their pilot died when their aircraft crashed on island of Sifnos
Greek police believe a mechanical fault may have caused a helicopter to crash moments before it was due to land on the island of Sifnos, killing a British couple on honeymoon and the pilot.
Authorities were focusing on Tuesday on the “strange noise” the aircraft, a privately chartered Bell 206, is reported to have made before falling to the ground and exploding on impact.
Continue reading...Government assessment warns of supply shock that could leave homes and businesses without gas within a decade
Great Britain risks running out of gas in the 2030s despite its growing clean energy sources, unless ministers take “unprecedented” action to guard against a future supply shock, according to an official assessment.
The government is considering plans to provide direct financial support to safeguard the country’s ageing gas infrastructure after a consultation found that a “high stress scenario” could mean homes and businesses run out within the next decade.
Continue reading...Bridget Phillipson writes to watchdog asking it to look into claims Tether.bet and Fispay operated without a licence
The Gambling Commission has been urged to investigate claims that companies linked to Reform UK donors and allies of Nigel Farage have been operating without a licence.
The Labour party’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, has written to the watchdog asking it to look into Tether.bet, a Montenegro-based gambling company, and Fispay, a UK company owned by Reform’s data protection officer, Mowbray Jackson.
Whether Tether.bet, and its operators, provided or advertised remote gambling facilities to consumers in UK without the required licence
Whether Fispay Ltd, or any other UK company, provided or supported gambling facilities or services to consumers in the UK without the required licence.”
Continue reading...Prime minister responds to Russian anger over Kyiv’s use of British-made drones in ‘deep strike’ campaign
Andy Burnham says the UK will continue to “support Ukraine 100%” after Russia threatened consequences after strikes by British-made drones.
The Russian embassy to the UK said on Monday that Britain had been deliberately escalating the Ukraine conflict and the deeper its involvement, “the higher the price it will pay”.
Continue reading...Move means holders will be able to travel free on local services at any time of day or night from April next year
Disabled people across England will be able to use their free bus passes at any time of day from next April, as Andy Burnham expands a policy he introduced as mayor of Greater Manchester.
The prime minister has said the current weekday restrictions on when disabled people can use their bus passes will be removed from 1 April 2027. Their passes are valid only between 9.30am and 11pm on weekdays, although some councils pay to allow people free travel outside those hours.
Continue reading...Move means holders will be able to travel free on local services at any time of day or night from April next year
Disabled people across England will be able to use their free bus passes at any time of day from next April, as Andy Burnham expands a policy he introduced as mayor of Greater Manchester.
The prime minister has said the current weekday restrictions on when disabled people can use their bus passes will be removed from 1 April 2027. Their passes are valid only between 9.30am and 11pm on weekdays, although some councils pay to allow people free travel outside those hours.
Continue reading...MPs, friends and campaigners gathered to remember former Cambridge professor after his death on Friday
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Trafalgar Square in London to remember and pay tribute to Jason Arday, the former Cambridge professor who died on Friday.
Stand Up to Racism, which organised the vigil, estimated that 30,000 mourners had gathered in the square to listen to emotional speeches from MPs, friends and campaigners on Arday’s life and legacy and join in a minute’s silence. Many were dressed in black and held flowers, which they were asked to leave beneath Nelson’s column. People also carried placards reading “rest in power”.
Continue reading...Temperatures could drop by more than 15C compared with last Thursday as cold front moves in
Relief from the unrelenting heat is finally arriving this week across western Europe, with more unsettled conditions bringing the chance of rain. Temperatures are expected to fall back towards the seasonal norm, with some parts of the UK even falling about 3C below normal by Thursday. After such a scorching summer, and with a temperature drop of more than 15C compared with last Thursday’s heat, it may feel surprisingly chilly.
There are signs that some substantial rain could be on the cards for the south of the UK this week as a cold front moves in from the Atlantic on Monday night into Tuesday. As of Monday, parts of southern England had endured 62 consecutive days of no rainfall – this is observed at a Met Office weather station in Wisley, Surrey. Even the last recorded rainfall here on 16 June amounted to just 0.4mm.
Continue reading...Temperatures could drop by more than 15C compared with last Thursday as cold front moves in
Relief from the unrelenting heat is finally arriving this week across western Europe, with more unsettled conditions bringing the chance of rain. Temperatures are expected to fall back towards the seasonal norm, with some parts of the UK even falling about 3C below normal by Thursday. After such a scorching summer, and with a temperature drop of more than 15C compared with last Thursday’s heat, it may feel surprisingly chilly.
There are signs that some substantial rain could be on the cards for the south of the UK this week as a cold front moves in from the Atlantic on Monday night into Tuesday. As of Monday, parts of southern England had endured 62 consecutive days of no rainfall – this is observed at a Met Office weather station in Wisley, Surrey. Even the last recorded rainfall here on 16 June amounted to just 0.4mm.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: The Spanish prime minister has remade himself as Europe’s leading leftwing standard-bearer. Could his success offer the UK’s PM a route forward?
Good morning. To international onlookers, Pedro Sànchez appears to have achieved the impossible. Where other European leftist and left-ish premiers have flopped and flailed, the Spanish PM has endured.
Since June 2018, Sánchez has ruled from Madrid, implementing a raft of progressive policies. More recently, he has emerged as a leading, and often lone, left-wing European voice on the global stage, striking a defiant tone on everything from the Trump administration’s war in Iran (“the smokescreen of war to hide their failure”) to Israel’s actions in Gaza (“exterminating a defenceless people”). The fact that the international press has nicknamed him El Guapo (the handsome one) can’t hurt.
UK economy | The UK should expect to see a new cost of living crisis, with official figures released this week by the ONS expected to show how soaring energy bills drove up inflation close to 3% in July.
Ceuta | Moroccan police arrested 111 people this weekend, who were trying to enter Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, amid tightened security on both sides after social media posts called for another mass crossing.
Jason Arday | The University of Cambridge has defended its mental health support for the academic Jason Arday.
UK politics | Andy Burnham is being urged to protect 4 million gig economy workers, who thinktanks warn miss out on key statutory rights including: parental leave, redundancy pay and protection against unfair dismissal.
Indonesia | Rescue crews dug through collapsed buildings and landslide debris in eastern Indonesia on Sunday, searching for bodies after a powerful earthquake killed at least 51 people, and injured more than 100.
Sànchez understands that anchoring his party to the left … is where he can govern.
Monday | Nominations close for candidates seeking to replace Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour leader.
Tuesday | Opening arguments expected to begin in a lawsuit brought by multiple US states against Meta about social media addiction.
Thursday | Students in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland will receive their GCSE results.
Continue reading...